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Workers at the Telefunken Radio Factory, Berlin-Schoeneberg, test
radio parts before final assembly; the operation of many large
factories such as this one is under the supervision of Property Control.
dwelling place or apartment house, the cus-
todian collects rent and pays for necessary
maintenance out of receipt s.
Frequently among the letters of inquiry
received by Property Control humorous cases
appear, evidently written with the sincere
conviction that Property Control officials
can somehow do the impossible. One former
German citizen wrote asking for the return
of a portable typewriter taken from him by
a Nazi official. A letter from a persecutee
claimed the dowry she would have received if
she had been married in Germany: since
she was forced to leave the country without
her dowry, she requested comparable re-
1lurneration.
Each of the four occupying powers in
Germany have property control branches
which serve temporarily as "clearing houses"
for claims received from outside Germany.
'the Military Governments exchange infor-
mation on the status of properties within
their respective zones. Thus, the inquiry
of a Chicago businessman asking about a
factory at Baden in the French Zone is ac-
knowledged by the OMGUS Property Con-
trol Branch and referred to the French of-
ficials for investigation.
Properties already in temporary custody
of Military Government in the US Zone and
US Sector of Berlin and claimed by nation-
als other than German are valued at over
RM 2,327,000,000, with new inquiries being
received daily. Properties owned by Amer-
ican individuals and firms constitute the
largest part of all properties under control,
representing in value about two-thirds of the
foreign-owned properties taken over thus
far by the branch. As of 1 February, these
US-owned properties numbered 5,975, with
a total value of RM 1,500,000,000.
The responsibility for US and United Na-
tions properties as well as those belong-
ing to nationals of neutral nations rests with
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